Libyan bloggers tackle domestic politics

Eid al-Adha preparations are high on the agenda for some Libyan bloggers. Others, however, use the blog space to exchange thoughts about controversial political issues in the country.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 14/11/10

From rising sheep prices to the questions of legitimacy, authority and opposition, a variety of issues fill the Libyan blogosphere.

As Eid al-Adha approaches, sheep buying is of particular concern to Libyan bloggers. Abdul Nassir Elbah complained about the soaring prices of rams.

"A number of sheep farmers confirmed that the prices of sheep this year have seen a considerable rise as compared to last year. Prices ranged between 300 and 800 Libyan dinars for local sheep, while the price of imported sheep "Cypriot" ranged between 400 and 750 Libyan dinars." Elbah cited some citizens as saying that "the market is witnessing an unexpected and worrying start in terms of high prices as compared to last year, which saw a low start followed by a rise in prices".

"A citizen pointed out that he bought a sheep for 500 Libyan dinars, which he said was his total salary for this month, adding that Eid demands still come one after the other," he wrote.

On a different note, a news story about the possible return to power of Abdessalam Jalloud, an old companion of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, has roiled the Libyan blogosphere. The story was published by weekly newspaper Oea, owned by Seif al-Islam al-Kadhafi.

Mustapha al-Araedh maintained that the news was merely a rumor fabricated by the ruling circles to divert public opinion from the real issues.

"It’s often noted that when the political situation of oppressive regimes deteriorates and when they fall under strong legal and rights demands, they try to busy the public opinion with leaks and test balloons to confuse the situation and further win time to impose the status quo and keep the deteriorating conditions without a change so as not to respond to the will of reform and change," he wrote.

"Such leaks and test balloons give importance to the leaders of public opinion that is being formed, even if indirectly," al-Araedh added. "The stronger the reactions are and the more they are up to the level of event, the more the ruling authority takes it into consideration. In addition, this will have an impact on their decisions."

In his turn, Meftah al-Fitouri accused Oea of failing to accept other opinions.

"The birth of Oea took place in an atmosphere that defends the legitimacy of other opinions, which reformers have been demanding in their newspapers day and night, but are not applying it to any different opinion that opposes their interest," he said.

"Those who demand the freedom of press and slam any repression of speech, writers and journalists in the name of reform, democracy and freedom in the Western style are the same people who revealed their animalistic instincts upon the first press scoop and expressed the worst values of dictatorship in their hidden store."

Meanwhile, other bloggers engaged in heated political discussions about the meaning of popular authority and the role of opposition abroad.

In response to a compatriot who accused Libyan opposition abroad of not taking part in the political change and exercising what he called "people's authority", another blogger, Saleem El-Ragihe, commented: "Dear compatriot, the people’s authority is nothing but a theoretical, formal, official and ideological cover to drug the people in order to pass on the absolute unilateral rule."

"The masses of our Libyan people discovered this fact a long time ago, but you may be the last one to learn that. The actual real authority is not in the session of basic congress; rather, it is in the "tent" session. Therefore, most Libyans have left these congress sessions behind their backs, given that they are nothing but a boring play and an outright lie," he wrote.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/blog/2010/11/14/feature-05.